Fastener for wrist watch straps



Jan. 11, 1938. c, GREENBERG 2,105,143

FASTENER FOR WRIST WATCH STRAPS Filed D90. 5, 1935 INVENTOR CHARLES 8. GREENBERG ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 11, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

My invention relates toadjustable wrist watch straps and in more detail, to afastener for an adjustable wrist watch strap in which the fastener is comprised of studs attached near one end of the strap which are passed through or rather into a guide way in the other end of the strap until the desired size of strap is reached whence a locking cam, by a slight reverse movement of the end of thestrap, functions to lock the strap ends by studs being caught in a ratchet cam.

The fasteners used at present in wrist watch straps are ofvarious kinds, as the common tongue buckle in which the tongue of the buckle passes through a hole in the strap, the holding buckle in which the strap is gripped between two parts of the buckle, the snapping clasp in which some form of linkage is used to lay over itself and make a snap closure, or the snapperkind using some form of the common dress snapper. All of these kinds of fasteners have serious defects; the buckle kind eventually tears the strap as the tongue enlarges the hole while the curved part defaces the strap against which it rests, the gripping buckle doesnot hold the strap firmly and when pressure is put on the strap, it slides out of the gripping parts, or if held too firmly, the strap becomes mangled, the snapping clasp is not safe as the linkage sometimes opens by itself or hooks into something and is opened unknownto the wearer; and the dress kind of snapper opens by itself, tears out and can be opened easilly without the wearers knowledge. In addition, most of these kinds of fasteners require that the joining means be made of metal if the strap is to be a loop at all times; and if the strap is to be of leather, the ends must be open as in the ordinary leather strap.

The object of my-invention is to construct a leather wrist watch strap and fastener in which the strap may always remain in the form of a loop.

The object of my invention is to construct a fastening means for wrist watch straps which neither grips the straps in fastening, nor passes through ahole in the strap. A further object is to construct the fastener for a wrist watch strap in which a positive locking action takes place when the fastener is closedand in whichto release the strap several individual actions are necessary. r

A further object is to construct a strap and fastener fora wrist watch in which the strap can only be opened (ends separated) from aclosed position by first tightening the strap to beyond the minimum size of wristfor which the strap is constructed. The purpose of this is toprevent an opening of the strap once it is on a persons wrist.

A further object is to provide a fastener for a wrist watch strap which functions so that the strap can be put on in the following manner: a small loop formed, made into a big loop, slipped on the wrist then pulled tight; and taken off, loop 5 made bigger slid off. of the wrist and then loop made small and strap released from loop. As the strap will not open when the loop is made big, any possibility of the ends opening and the watch sliding off the hand is prevented. A further ob- 10 ject is to construct a simple, strong, inexpensive fastener for straps. Another object is to construct an easily and finely adjustable fastener for a leather strap.

I accomplish these and other objects by con- 15 structing a fastener for a wrist watch strap in two partsone fastened to one end of the strap having a guide way and a ratchet cam functioning therein and the other part fastened to the other end of the strap having adjusting studs ca- 0 pable of sliding in the guide way and being held by the cam from passing backward once they have passed the cam unless the cam is lifted out of the functioning position. To prevent the ends of the tener; Fig. Bis a longitudinal section on 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the lower'mem- 35 her of the, buckle; Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional View on 55 of Fig. 3 Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the upper member; Fig. '7 shows a strap with a modified type of stud.

In the drawing I is a wrist watch having the 40 strap 2 with the strap ends 3 and 4 and the buckle or fastener 5. The fastener 5 is divided into a holding part 6 carried by the strap end 4 and a button or stud part or held part 1, carried by the strap end 3 which coact together to secure the 45 strap into a loop and hold it to any desired size.

The holding part 6 on the strap 4 is comprised of an inset piece 8 which is positioned partly in an open space 9 cut out of the strap and partly below the strap, and a cover plate l0 which rests partially on the inset piece 8 and partially on the strap itself. In order for the piece 8 and the cover plate I!) to be held to the strap and to each other the piece 8 is provided with a slit l I in the extending ears l2 which rest against the under side of the strap part 4. The cover plate rests on the upper side of the strap and is provided with the lapping tabs l3 which after extending through the strap and the slits l I are bent over firmly securing the two pieces to the strap and to each other.

The cover plate is provided with the shoulders M which rest on the strap and extend beyond and cover the places where the tabs l3 pierce the strap. Also, the cover plate is provided with a raised center part I! caused by the slightly sloping sides i8 thus providing a space l9 between the cover plate and the strap surface beyond the opening 9. In addition the cover plate is provided with the open portion l5 and the ledge I6 whose uses will be described later.

The under side of the inset piece 8 is provided with a guide way having the side walls 2| and the bent over guides 22 while theupper side is provided with the bearing ears 23 to hold the ratchet cam 24 and permit it to rotate. The cam is constructed with two parts-one a restraining arm 25 extending through an open part 26 of the inset into and blocking the guide way and the other alifting arm 21 which extends through the open portion? of the cover plate and rests on'the ledge it. The lifting arm 21 is substantially coextensive in size and shape with the open portion i5, and substantially fills the latter when moved thereinto. The cam is held in position by extensions or shaft parts 230. near the upper part of the restraining arm extending into openings in the bearings 23 and the lifting part of the cam is attached to the restraining arm slightly above the pivotal extensions.

When the restraining arm of the cam is in a downward extending position the lifting arm of the cam extends through and rests flat in the open space i 5 in the cover plate and the end of the lifting arm rests on the ledge: l6 of the cover plate, thus determining the lowest position of the lifting arm and the furthest rotating position of restraining arm. In this position, the lifting arm lies within the plane. of the cover plate 10. As the ledge extends beyond the end of the lifting arm to the right a small opening 28 is provided so that the end of the lifting arm can be grasped. Thus in order to remove the. restraining arm of the cam from blocking the guide way and preventing the studs from passing to the right, the end of the lifting arm is grasped and raised and bythe cam pivoting in its bearing, the restraining arm is turned to the left out of the guide way. h

In order to hold the cam parts in their normal positions which are with the restraining arm extending downward into the guide way and the lifting arm in the space and recessa spring 29 under slight pressure extends. from the back of the space l9 between the cover plate and strap to the face of the restraining arm. The end of the spring is slightly curved at 30 to provide a grip againstthe restraining arm, and the lower end 3iv cf the restraining arm is also curved to hold the end of the spring as Well as to allow freer passage of the studs to the left. The spring may also be constructed with a slit 32 and fastened into position by the passage therethrough of the appropriate'tab of the cover plate before entering the slit of the inset piece. Thus when the lifting arm of the cam is in a restingposition against the recessed part and the restraining-arm obstructs the guide way, the'spring presses slightly against the restraining arm holding it downward in a closed position, and we venting passage of the studs to the right.

In order to allow the studs to pass, the lifting arm is held raised removing the restraining arm from the guide way and compressing and lifting the spring and when the lifting arm is released, the spring acts to lower the lifting arm and causes the restraining arm to block the guide way.

The stud part I on the strap end 4 is comprised of a series of studs each one of which can act as a stop against which the restraining cam can act, thus giving an adjusting means to the fastener. Each of the studs is provided with the head part 33 suitable for sliding in the guide- Way and with the narrowed part 34 capable of being gripped by the curved top parts of the guide way to prevent the stud from being removed except by moving through the' guide way. Below the narrowed part is an enlarged part 35 against which the strap rests and which helps provide a suitable, durable and strong surface for thepassage of the curved parts of the guide way.

Extending from the under side of the part 35 is the pin 36 which pierces one of the thicknesses: of leather 31, or other suitable material, of the strap. To attach the stud to the leather, a washer 38 is placed over the pin beyond the first thickness of leather 3! and the end of the pin, projecting beyond the washer, is enlarged by spinning, thus securing the washer and the stud. The second thickness of leather 39 is then glued, or otherwise attached, to the first thickness, thus providing a complete strap and fastener.

Occasionally, when a wrist watch is' being strapped on, the strap with the watch slips due to the difficulty of joining the strap ends, and falls to the ground. To prevent this mishap, my strap and fastenermay be constructed in the ,form of a loopif desired. This is done by placing a dummy or enlarged stud 40 at either the outer end of the row of studs or by using two dummies, one placed at each end of the row of studs. The head of the dummy stud is the same size as the heads of the other studs, but the dummy is not provided with the narrowed part 34 and therefore, cannot enter the guide way.

Where one dummy is used, it is placed at the outer end of the row of studs so that the strap ends canonly be separated by making the strap loopv smaller-not bigger, as is usual when the strap ends open. To strap a band of this kind on a wrist, the loop must first be formed before placing on the wrist, then enlarged, slid on the Wrist and then tightened. This band can then only be taken off in the form of a loop, and not by opening the end (which can only be done by decreasing the loop to a minimum). Thus, this type of band tends to prevent the strap opening after being fixed on the Wrist as well as its slipping out of the hand while being attached.

By placing a dummy at both ends a perpetual loop is formed sothat the ends never accidentally slide open. However, the ends can be opened, if desired, bybending the strap end containing the studs backward until the curved parts of the guide way do not catch in the stud next but just outside the guide way, and then sliding the studs in the guide way in the direction away from the uncaught stud.

A variation in the shape of the stud is possible as shown in Fig. 7 by constructing the studs in an oval form 4| with the short axis of the studextending in the direction of the guide way.

By using this type of stud, the studs can be placed closer together and a finer adjustment of the strap made.

As the details described and the drawing shows very specifically certain improvements for an improved fastener for a wrist watch strap and since many other modifications and changes may be made in my invention without changing or departing from the spirit and scope of the ideas conveyed in the specific description and drawing, I desire to cover all modifications, forms and embodiments of my ideas coming within language and scope of any one or more of the appended" secured to the other strap end and adapted to slide through said guide-Way, a cover plate above a the guide-Way forming member having an elongated opening and further having a ledge beneath one end of the opening, and a locking element pivoted in the guide-way forming member for engagement with said studs, said locking element including a lifting arm disposed within said opening and resting on said ledge in the plane of the cover plate when the locking element is in looking position.

2. A fastener for a pair of strap ends com- -prising, a guide-way forming member secured to one of said strap ends, a series of studs secured to the other strap end and adapted to slide through said guide-way, a cover plate above the guide-way forming member having an opening, and a locking element movably mounted in the guide-way forming member and including a restraining arm engageable with said studs and further including a lifting arm substantially coextensive in size and shape with the opening in the cover plateiand movable .into and out of said opening, said lifting arm substantially filling said opening when moved thereinto.

CHARLES B. GREEN'BERG. 

